sick

It is zero fun to have a cold at all, but it's super-zero fun when it happens during the summer. It just doesn't seem fair—how can you have the sniffles and sneezes when it's so hot out? Well! It turns out that summer colds and winter colds are entirely different animals. Winter colds are usually from a rhinovirus infection, so they're shorter and nastier—but it's more obvious as to what they actually are. You know it's a cold when you get it! But summer colds are from the enterovirus, and they tend to start off mild and then get worse over a longer period—which means you may eventually start to think that you're suffering from allergies. But it's just a cold! And experts think there are two reasons that the summer cold doesn't get better as quickly: exercise and the air conditioner. Sudden drops in temperatures can leave our immune systems weaker and more prone to colds. Exercise usually gives immune systems a boost, but we naturally spend more time being active in the warmer months—so we may have higher heart rates in general, which makes it harder to fight infections. Weird, right? Maybe those summer allergies might have been read more

OK, that's it. I was diagnosed with nasty case of strep throat yesterday—I can barely turn my head because my neck hurts too much!—and I'm done. I'm absolutely, 100 percent done with being sick this season. So let's get acquainted with some things that boost your immunity, big-time. What do you say? Tangerines: Poor tangerines are often overlooked for their big cousins oranges, but they're chock-full of immunity-boosting good stuff: vitamin C, beta carotene, vitamin B complex, calcium, iron, plus fiber and protein. Research has actually shown that vitamin C can greatly help ease cold symptoms. Pistachios: A study found that the number of phytosterols in pistachios may reduce the amount of cholesterol in your blood—while also increasing your immunity, along with a set of about 10 different antioxidants that help fight free radicals and combat illness and disease. Sleep: We all know by now how important sleep is—we get it, right? And here's another reminder, because when you're sleeping, that's one of the few chances your body actually gets to repair all of its cells, readying itself for the next thing that may be coming at it. In fact, one study found that not getting enough sleep is as read more

Want to hear something gross? (If you don't want to hear something gross, you should maybe skip to the third paragraph of this post. But it helps prove a point! So...you know, read at your own risk.) At my last gym, I noticed something that can only be described as truly yuck: previous shower-ers (or maybe just one who was extra-prolific?) were blowing their noses in the showers, sans tissue, and leaving the evidence for all to see. Without going into a rant about it (why? Why wouldn't you just use a Kleenex before hopping in the shower?), it was a reminder that, while gyms are good for us, and most facilities do their absolute best to keep things hygienic and tip-top, things can be germy. In fact...want to know the places inside a gym that are most likely to get you sick? Sure you do! Barbells, dumbbells, and weight plates. A basic sneeze can send 100,000 infectious particles into the air at 200 miles an hour--when someone catches those buggers with their hand instead of a tissue (or even an elbow), they can transfer easily to handheld gym equipment. Before you lift weights, spray down the equipment (gym etiquette read more

Having the flu is just awful. And right now, a lot of us seem to have it--wait, no, not just seem to have it. We do have it! This flu season is turning out to be a bad one. If you're in one of these 30 states, you're in a place where flu activity is "high," which is really just no good at all. Experts are concerned by how early this flu season started, and by the number of otherwise healthy people who are experiencing especially serious cases of the flu. Washing your hands and using sanitizing gels can reduce your risk of getting the flu by 30 percent, so by all means--clean, clean, clean, and the CDC is urging everyone to get vaccinated. But if you do happen to wind up with the flu, you might want to head to Facebook and install this little app: "Help, I Have the Flu." It'll spin through your friends' profiles, picking up sick-sounding keywords like "sneezing" and "coughing," and scanning check-ins to see who's been at the doctor's office recently. It'll even see who's been staying up late to post, since flu sufferers may have sleeplessness as a symptom, and let's you read more

JD has pneumonia. He's pretty sick and very sad. The ped said not to exert him. That means we can't have our nightly dance-offs. It means we can't run around in the snow-covered courtyard. So we're coloring, finger-painting, building massive block towers, making meatballs out of Play-Doh, reading, playing with water and bubbles (making a mess!), trying out new hair styles--you name it, we did it 20 times. Yeah, we're watching TV, too. (WHATEVER!) We also haven't really left the house because it's cold, and cold air is not good for pneumonia. I have been trying to work (yeah, right!) between nebulizer treatments and naps, and I'm admittedly going a little stir-crazy. JD? He's going...BORED. And his boredom has sparked his imagination. Last night he said... read more